


Tomorrow's Reality

by Fluffypanda



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 02:58:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11199048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffypanda/pseuds/Fluffypanda
Summary: A Hydra plot accidentally brings Steve Rogers to the future before he becomes Captain America.





	Tomorrow's Reality

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Tomorrow's Reality (art)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11200749) by [zappedbysnow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zappedbysnow/pseuds/zappedbysnow). 



> I'm so happy I got to pinch hit for Snow! Please check out the lovely art!
> 
> This fic kind of kicked my butt, but I hope you enjoy it!

Shadows pooled in the streets and alleys of Brooklyn, the lights of the distant white way only serving to make the route to his apartment seem so much darker, yet Steve walked with his jacket in hand. The darkness was familiar, fire escapes and laundry lines casting their shapes across buildings. Steve had never lived anywhere central enough to warrant streetlights, and he was more than able to find his way through the darkness in the warm June night.

As he walked the grimy streets of his home, he desperately thought of recruiting offices that might give him a chance. Bucky would be shipping out any day now, and Steve didn’t want to be left behind, but more and more it looked like he wouldn’t have a choice. The military simply didn’t want someone like Steve.

Brilliant light cut through the darkness in an alley half a block ahead of Steve before fading to a steady glow. Steve rushed forward to see what it was. Two men stood in front of a wall of light, animatedly whispering to each other. They were outfitted strangely, in big bulky vests covered in pouches and baggy pants.

Steve's hasty entrance drew their attention to him. Both of them broke into nasty grins, sending chills down Steve’s spine.

"Would you look at that? He came to us," the one on the right said, his short dark hair oddly spiked. He stalked towards Steve.

"You really think that's him? He's so small!" the other one replied, circling around Steve from the other side. His blond hair was closely cropped.

"He looks just like the picture," the first one said. "Plus, I'd recognize that girly-ass face anywhere."

The blond pulled a knife from somewhere. “We gotta make it look like a mugging, right?”

Bucky always said he’d get himself killed someday; Steve just didn’t quite picture it like this. He snatched up a nearby trashcan lid and held it in front of himself. The two men burst into laughter.

“Would you look at that? He thinks that’s a shield.”

“That’s precious.” The blond cackled wildly, his buddy joining in.

Steve swallowed a surge of anger at their mockery. He took advantage of their distraction to try and slip past the dark-haired one to a more defensible position. An arm swung out, sending Steve flying. His head cracked against the wall and his vision whited out. Disoriented, he staggered sideways a few steps.

“Shit! Catch him, you f—”

Searing light pierced Steve’s eyes before he was plunged into perfect darkness. He floated, untethered, in that lightless void for no more than a few seconds, but no less than an eternity.

The next moment, Steve tumbled out from a wall of light into a dingy room with no windows. A man in similar gear to the other two had his back turned to Steve. Caught by surprise, the man dropped the device he was holding and the portal behind Steve disappeared.

“You aren’t—”

Steve did the only thing that made any sense, he ran. He headed straight for the door, dodging the man’s grasping hands.

Never letting go of his makeshift shield, Steve pushed through the door into a narrow alleyway completely different from the one he left. Everything was wrong in a way Steve struggled to identify through the mental fog. The first thing that his mind was able to latch on to was the moon. It hung large and full over the nearby buildings, when only moments ago it was only just over half full.

However, Steve quickly forgot the moon. Everything he knew screamed that this was impossible and that he must have had hit his head harder than he thought. He could not be seeing what he thought he was seeing: a metal man hovering over the street, looking like something out of Flash Gordon.

“Cap?” the metal man said.                                                       

 

Tony stealthily maneuvered through tight alleys around to the back side of a seemingly normal four-story apartment building. Few had noticed the Avengers slipping through the shadows in full battle gear. The area, despite being a stone's throw from Avenger's tower and the center of the city, was mostly empty at this time of night, with everyone with either tucked away in their home or roaming the parts of the city with an active nightlife.

A series of crashes followed by the bang of the apartment's back door opening prompted Tony to quickly turn the corner with an extra burst of power. However the person who emerged was the last person Tony expected to find at the site of reported Hydra activity and some very suspicious readings.

The man was stick thin, almost gangly, though he was on the short side. In his hand he carried a silver trash can lid, raising it like a shield. His face, set with blazing determination, was what drew Tony up short.

"Cap?" The word slipped out of Tony's mouth.

“Stay back!” The shrimpy maybe-Cap guy said.

The resemblance was strong, like someone brought a photo of Cap before he became seventy percent muscle to life. It was uncanny seeing him like that in person. He looked so young, so tiny, yet it was Cap right down to the expression on his face.

The question was, what was he doing here?

Tony dropped down onto the pavement in front of mini-Cap. “Relax. I’m not going to hurt you.”

At the same time, someone came crashing out of the apartment building. This person was much more in line with what Tony expected to find here: heavily armed, buff, with clear signs of military training.

"Shit," the Hydra goon rather eloquently said, reaching for the gun holstered to his chest.

Tony moved to shield mini-Cap, raising his gauntlets. "I wouldn't if I were you."

The goon's eyes flickered from Tony to mini-Cap. In a split second he had his gun drawn and aimed, not at Tony, but the man behind him. Tony jumped forward. The bullet pinged off the armor, embedding itself harmlessly in a nearby wall.  Pulling the gun from his grip and crushing it, Tony pinned down the goon.

"I told you," Tony said. "Why do you guys never listen?"

"Heil Hydra!" the goon said. He was chewing on something, Tony noticed with a sinking feeling.

Confirming Tony's suspicions, the goon started foaming at the mouth before seizing up and dying. Cyanide. Tony dropped him, swearing. Mini-Cap looked at the body in wide-eyed shock.

Tony stepped forward to block his view, the kid didn’t need to see that. Mini-cap refocused his eyes on Tony, the trash can lid trembling in his hands. He couldn’t stay here, Tony needed to get him somewhere safe.

“Uh, guys? Do you think you got a handle on this?” Tony asked over the comm line.

"Ironman?" came Cap's response.

"Something came up. You're going to have to do this without me. Bring anything you find back to the tower." Honestly, it was more a job for the spies anyway. Ironman was overkill for such a small scale operation. “Oh, and I left you something at the back door. Someone was a little too eager to get this party started.”

"You can't just--" Cap started to say before Tony muted the comm line.

Tony turned back to mini-Cap, who was studying the armor with equal parts fascination and suspicion. It was actually a lot like the way Cap looked at him when they first met.

“You see that tower back there?” Tony jerked his head over to Avenger’s tower. “You will be safe there.”

Tony held his gauntleted hand out to him, but he just stared at it blankly.

“Come on, I’ll give you a lift,” Tony said. “You don’t have to be scared, I won’t drop you.”

Mini-Cap immediately grabbed Tony’s hand, scowling. “I’m not scared.”

Tony pulled him in so he was standing on the top of his boots, and wrapped one arm securely around mini-Cap.

“Hold on tight,” Tony said as he lifted off nice and easy, Mini-cap didn’t really look like he could handle any rough flying.

They soared over midtown, mini-Cap turning every which way to get a look at the scenery below. Some of the tense suspicion had drained from his face, replaced by pure wonder. There was no doubt in Tony’s mind that this guy was some version of Cap, he was practically fearless.

“This is New York!” Mini-Cap shouted.

“Of course. Where did you think you were?”

“I don’t know!”

Tony touched down softly on the tower’s landing pad and gently let mini-Cap go. He stumbled back a few steps, nearly falling on his ass before Tony caught him with a steadying hand.

“Easy there.”

Mini-Cap shrugged him off, a blush high on his cheeks. “I’m fine.”

“Sure,” Tony said, nodding. Tony kind of suspected mini-Cap would be “fine” even if he was coughing up blood. He had a head injury for chrissake.  

“I am!” he squawked.

“Didn’t doubt it,” Tony said, disengaging the armor. “Let’s get inside.”

Mini-Cap’s mouth dropped open as the armor peeled away from Tony and walked off. He followed Tony inside without a word. He was full of unguarded curiosity as his gaze darted around the sleek interior of the tower. Cap had never been this open around Tony, not when they first met and certainly not now.

Tony directed his guest to one of the couches and rummaged around for a first aid kit. He knew there had to be one around somewhere; he kept one in every room.

“Now we’re in business,” Tony said, finally locating one underneath the bar, which probably have been the first place he looked. He sat down on the couch and opened the kit. “Let’s get you patched up.”

“I can handle it on my own,” Mini-Cap replied.

“You don’t have to. Just let me do it, I’ve got some experience with this sort of thing.” Though it was usually his own injuries that he was treating.

When no further protests came, Tony tore open a packet with a disinfectant wipe and started wiping the blood from the wound on Mini-Cap’s forehead.

“Mind telling me your name?” Tony had a theory, but he’d like some proof.

“Steve Rogers,” he said, looking between Tony and his hands like he had something else to say. Tony continued his treatment while Steve worked himself up to it. “…Am I in the future?”

A surprisingly astute question. Tony sometimes forgot how smart Cap was.

“Maybe, what’s the date you last remember?”

Tony could hardly believe he was considering time travel as a probable explanation for what was going on here, but his life really had gotten that weird. Alien gods, mind controlling sticks, and portals to other worlds were on the table, so who was he to discount time travel?

“Thirteenth of June, 1943.”

“How did you get here?” Tony asked as he gently smoothed down the bandage on Steve’s forehead.

“I was walking home. There were these men; I think they wanted to kill me, and this wall of light. I fell through.”

“Hmmm,” Tony said, getting up. “Wait here, I’ll get you an ice pack.”

Steve stood up to take the ice pack when Tony returned a moment later. Tony had been a little worried about a concussion seeing the way Steve stumbled, but his eyes were clear and bright and he didn’t seem any more confused than was normal for the situation.

“Thank you, Mr.—”

“Just call me Tony.”

“Thank you, Tony,” Steve said pressing the ice pack to his forehead. “Who are you, what is this place?”

“I can’t tell you that. If you really are from the past we need to keep your knowledge of the future to a minimum.”

“That’s not—” Steve said before he was interrupted by Tony’s phone.

Apparently the whole team stopped by to drop off whatever they found during their little raid. And probably to yell at Tony. He was going to have to think of some excuse for why he suddenly bailed out. He’d hate to think what might happen if any of them knew about Steve.

“For now, make yourself comfortable,” Tony said, texting to let them know he was on his way. “It’s late, there are guest bedrooms down at the end of the hall if you want to hit the hay.”

Tony quickly left, hoping to head off his teammates before they caused any trouble. He arrived just in time to see two SI employees, Tamara and Mark, attempting to receive the Hydra tech so it could be sent along to Tony’s lab. Cap refused to turn anything over until he spoke with Tony. With the help of Tamara and Mark, Tony managed to grab what he wanted and clear everyone out. 

Tony set up the tech in his lab, asking JARVIS to scan the various devices. The majority of it was pretty straightforward, but Tony couldn’t determine the function of a couple of them. Perhaps Steve had seen something that would help give Tony a clearer picture.

After confirming with JARVIS that Steve was still awake, Tony found the guest room he was staying in and knocked on the door. Steve took his time answering, coming out with red-rimmed eyes and rumpled clothes.

Tony had never seen Cap cry, to see evidence of it on Steve was disquieting. He had always seemed so strong and assured, but this wasn’t Cap, not yet.

“Are you hungry? I make a mean omelet,” Tony said instead of whatever it was he had planned.

Steve just nodded, which is how Tony found himself in the kitchen at three am, covering his attempt at an omelet in ketchup to hide the burned spots. He nervously presented it to Steve, hoping that it tasted better than it looked.

Steve’s face twisted at the first bite, but he took another and another, not stopping until he finished the omelet. Tony guilty slid over a glass of juice to help wash it down. He spotted a small ketchup stain on Steve’s sleeve. 

“If you’re going to stay here, I should probably get you some more clothes,” Tony said.

“I can’t stay here. I have to get home—” Steve cut himself off. “I’m probably years too late for that. I’m not going to be stuck here, am I?”

“I’ll do everything in my not insignificant power to get you home right around when you left.”

“Do you really think you can?”

“If I can’t, no one can.”

Neither of them said anything as they adjourned to the living room. Tony brightened when he saw the pile of books left on the coffee table.

“I thought you might be bored, so I asked someone to scare up some books for you. These were all published before 1943, so they should be safe.”

“Do you really have to go that far? I don’t even know what year it is. Why are you trying to keep everything so secret?”

“This is damage control. Anything you find out about the future has the potential to change the past,” Tony said, he could hear the exhaustion in his voice. “There isn’t much I can do about what you’ve seen so far, but I can try to limit further exposure.”

“I don’t see how what it would make such a big difference. I’m just a kid from Brooklyn.”

“I wouldn’t discount anything. The right person at the right time could make all the difference.”

“Then wouldn’t it be even more important to tell me things? Surely there is something I could change for the better.”

“You actions could, no, would have unintended consequences,” Tony explained. He grabbed a handful of straws from the bar and dropped them haphazardly on the coffee table. “Look at these straws. You can’t move a single one of them without disturbing the others.  Now imagine that you could only see the straw you are trying to move and maybe, maybe one or two others that it is touching. The others are still there, but you don’t see how your actions affect them.”

“I think I see what you are getting at, but that would be true whether I knew anything or not. If you told me about say, a house fire, I could get people out safely or even prevent the fire.”

“Yes, but that house fire was a known quantity, there is no telling what else it would affect. What if one of the people you saved goes on to murder someone? What if whatever building replaces that house becomes an important location? Don’t change anything. It’s the most important rule of time travel.”

 

Trying not to look like he was peeking at Tony, Steve turned another page without really reading it. The man in question sat on the opposite end of an enormous leather sofa from Steve. Lights played across the glass rectangle in his hand as he did who knew what faster than Steve's eyes could follow.

Steve’s hand itched for his drawing pad and pencil. The future was full of wonders to commit to paper, but none so all possessing as Tony and his technology. When the suit peeled away to reveal Tony, Steve nearly stopped breathing. He hadn't been sure that there was a man beneath all that metal and then it was someone who looked like he belonged on the silver screen. Steve couldn't shake off the feeling it was all a dream, yet he knew it wasn't.

"Keep looking at me like that and I might think you’re trying to get in my pants,” Tony said without looking up from his device.

“I-I’m not- I wouldn’t!” Steve cheeks heated. He knew he didn’t have a chance with Tony.

Tony laughed. “Don’t worry about it.” Without missing a beat, he added, “I went over the specs for what I believe to be the machine that brought you here. I wanted to take a look before I head to the lab to poke at it. It’s got a bit of damage, but it’s nothing I shouldn’t be able to handle.”

“Thank you, for doing this for me.”

Tony turned and gave him a look that had Steve blushing all over again. It was like Steve had surprised him in the most delightful was imaginable.

“Has no one told you that you shouldn’t feed my ego?”

“You’re the only person I know here, besides, it’s only right that I thank you.”

[Sir, there has been a security breach in the lobby. An alert has been sent out to the other members of the Avengers.]

Steve jumped, nearly dropping his book. Tony, however, took the interruption from a disembodied voice in stride.

“Was that really necessary?” he asked, getting up from the couch.

[Current protocol dictates that the Avengers be alerted to any attack on the tower.]

 “We’re fixing that after I take care of this.” Turning to Steve, he said, “I’ll be right back. Don’t wander off.”

Steve just nodded in response, gripping his book harder. The room plunged into darkness.

“Shit. They must have gotten to the arc reactor.” Tony sprinted out of the room.

Too nervous to even try to read his book, Steve paced the living room, waiting for something. He had no idea how much time he passed that way, it seemed like hours. Outside the sun was well over the horizon.

At last the lights flicked back on and it was only a matter of minutes before the elevator arrived with a ding. The doors opened to reveal not Tony, but a group of people in costume. They spotted Steve immediately.

Tony made his entrance from outside, quickly coming between Steve and the strangers.

“I can explain?” Tony said with a winning smile. “Not here. Come with me, Cap?”

Tony took the man in red, white, and blue aside, leaving Steve with the rest of motley crew in the living room. Every last one of them was staring at Steve. He shifted uncomfortably. He supposed it wasn't every day you met a time traveler, even in the future.

"What do you think of Tony?" said the woman with the flaming red hair and scandalously revealing outfit. Apparently women wore skin-tight jumpsuits in the future.

"Uh, well, that is, He's been very kind, ma'am," Steve said, blushing. "He's letting me stay here and even promised to find a way to get me home."

"You can call me Natasha. That's Clint, Thor, and Bruce," she said, pointing to the man with the short dark blond hair and no sleeves, the huge man with the long blond hair and a beard, and the man with curly brown hair and glasses respectively.

"Pleased to meet you. Steve Rogers." Steve stuck his hand out to shake. Thor gripped it enthusiastically, nearly knocking Steve over as he asked, "What about the man who left with Tony?"

"Oh, you'll probably meet him later, don't worry about it," Natasha said.

"So what do you think of the future?" Clint asked.

The future was nothing like Steve pictured, nothing like he could have ever dreamed. In some places it seemed mundane, alleys were as dirty as ever, in others it was downright alien like the sleek curves and glass walls of Tony's home. Cars couldn't fly, but telephones could fit in your pocket and the icebox told you if you were running low on guava juice, whatever that was. 

Somehow he didn’t think he could say that. So instead he said, "I haven't really seen much of it yet. Tony said it's probably better I don't, that it could change things."

"Aye. A wise decision. Even we, on Asgard, do not meddle with time lightly," Thor said, nodding.

"Hasn't it already been meddled with though? I think we should just tell him everything."

"Don't Clint. Do you really want to be responsible for what happens if things turn out differently? Are you at all familiar with The Man in the High Castle?"

"She's right you know. We don't know for sure how this works, do you really want to chance it?" Bruce said, speaking up for the first time.

"Yikes. Fine, but can't we at least tell him little things?"

"I don't really like it, but I understand. You don't have to tell me anything."

"You're not curious? Like at all?" Clint said.

"Of course I am, but Tony seemed pretty certain that if I find out the wrong information, history could really go wrong," Steve said. He still wasn’t sure he agreed, but Tony probably knew more about this sort of thing than him.

"And you believed him?" Clint said, clearly shocked.

"Why? I shouldn't have?"

"No, no, Tony's right. We're just surprised you are so willing to trust someone you just met," Bruce said. “You’ve been here what? Less than twenty-four hours?”

"Tony is a good man, I can tell. He's done a lot for me."

"He is a most hospitable man, indeed."

"He can be very generous," Natasha agreed.

"So, uh, how do you know Tony? Or is that something I'm not supposed to know?"

"We're...coworkers," Natasha said.

"Coworkers?"

"Yes." Natasha nodded, clearly that was all she had to say on the matter.

 

 

“I’m waiting for that explanation.” Cap stood with his arms crossed.  

 “Do you remember anything about the evening of June thirteenth, 1943?” Tony asked.

“That was the day before Erskine recruited me for project Rebirth.”

“That’s all? Nothing out of the ordinary happened?”

“No!” Cap said. “What does this have to do with the guy out there that looks like me?”

“That’s when he says he came from. Those weird readings we got from that Hydra hideout? It looks like they came from a time portal. That is you out there.”

"Why didn't you tell me I-he was was here?"

"Because you'd want to meet him. He can't know about you."

"Why not?"

"It's bad enough that he's seen as much as he has. Do you really want him to find out more?"

"If he knows what's coming, he can prepare for it."

Tony bit back a groan. Dealing with Steve was so much easier than dealing with Cap.

"That's exactly what we don't want. If we go around changing history, there is no telling what kind of consequences we'll face."

"We should tell him - me, something."

"Even just having the knowledge changes things. Besides, can you honestly tell me that if you knew what would happen ahead of time, Erskine, Bucky, the Valkyrie, that you wouldn't want to change it?"

A stiff silence settled in the air between them. Cap flexed his jaw, clearly working up to saying something, and for a moment Tony thought he'd actually lie, but then he looked away.

"Fine, but the team is staying here. Hydra won't give up on their plans easily," Cap warned.

It figured that the team would finally take up his offer to stay at the most inconvenient time. Still, Cap was right, Hydra already tried breaking into the tower once, who’s to say they won’t try again?

"Okay, but you need to stay out of sight, don't give yourself away."

Cap nodded grimly. "I'll stay out of the way."

Tony wearily followed Cap as he marched back into the living room.

“I guess they worked out their lover’s spat,” Natasha said, looking at Steve.

Cap shot her a look and headed for the elevator. The rest of the team rose to follow.

“Looks like we’re out,” Clint said. “See ya, Steve.”

 

Steve melted into the plush bed, amazed how it could be buoyantly soft and still have just the right amount of firmness. Like everything he'd seen so far in the future, he wasn't sure if he loved or hated it. Tony epitomized that conflict. Something about him put Steve on edge, yet there was undeniably a certain charm to him.

The way he looked at Steve, like he was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen, made Steve blush. No one except Bucky and Ma had ever paid him much mind, and their attention never felt like that. Steve told himself that Tony was only interested because Steve came from another time, not for anything Steve himself did.

Tony opened his home to Steve, a virtual stranger. He even bought new clothes for Steve, which were softer than anything he'd ever worn. Steve felt vaguely guilty for accepting the charity, but he didn't have much choice and Tony made it so easy, almost like Steve was doing him a favor by taking what Tony offered.

Honestly, Steve wouldn’t mind staying in the future if it meant he got to spend time with Tony.

**Author's Note:**

> Let us make our future now, and let us make our dreams tomorrow's reality. - Malala Yousafzai


End file.
